MENIFEE BAN ON BUNKERS A NOD TO NANNY STATE

But bunkers, underground bunkers, of the kind people in the 1950s and ‘60s used to build as fallout shelters to protect their families from the upcoming nuclear winter?

Uh-uh.

The Menifee City Council last week blocked two proposed ordinances that would have given people more freedom as to what they can do with their private property.

One would have eased restrictions on where metal storage containers are allowed. The other would have let residents build underground bunkers.

We applaud Menifee Mayor Scott Mann and his crew for being concerned about Menifee’s image. And those huge metal storage containers, often seen in rural areas, certainly interfere with the aesthetics of a bustling young suburban town still trying to pull itself up by the bootstraps and show its neighbors it’s got both class and taste.

But underground bunkers? They’re essentially pint-size basements or oversize wine cellars — and not really all that different from the storm shelters still in use in certain parts of the country today. They certainly don’t smack of low class, or threaten to cloud Councilman John Denver’s vision of Menifee as a “growing upscale community.”

You can’t see them from the road; even if you’re standing directly in front of the house, you more than likely won’t even know they’re there.

We really feel for Menifee resident Bernie Jones, who’s been lobbying the Planning Commission to let him build an underground bunker — the San Onofre nuclear power plant is just 60 miles away, he notes — and finally came to the council with a plea to give him the green light.

“It chokes me up,” Jones said. “I only want to protect my family.”

The poor guy’s out of luck, and for the life of us we cannot understand why. Oh, council members had an explanation: “they questioned the necessity of such structures in Menifee, far from the threat of tropical storm country,” and also “raised concerns about such structures’ use to aid both the drug-producing culture and criminals who have been known to hide kidnapped children in bunkers.”

What’s next? Ban oak trees because they were once used for second-story room additions and people could jump out the window and break their neck? How about trampolines or swimming pools — backyard safety, anyone?

“It’s difficult to find a reason to have an underground bunker. ... I have a problem opening up that can of worms,” Councilman Wallace Edgerton said.

A can of worms? Do you really think allowing underground bunkers is going to take us down a slippery slope, and that had Mr. Jones been allowed to build his shelter he’d come back a week later and ask to build a shooting range, a gymnasium or a cantina?